


Koujaku Week - day 1: Happy Birthday!

by ioverheardthis



Category: DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types
Genre: Koujaku Week, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-20
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-08-09 21:27:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7817941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ioverheardthis/pseuds/ioverheardthis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short fic for the prompt <i>Happy Birthday!</i> during Koujaku Week 2016</p>
            </blockquote>





	Koujaku Week - day 1: Happy Birthday!

Usually, in the mornings, I wait for Koujaku to leave for the kitchen before I finally take my turn in the bathroom to get ready for the day. By that time, he has breakfast and coffee already prepared. On a few select weekends when Koujaku doesn’t get up at ass o’clock, I can get up before or at the same time as him. However, on his birthdays, I make him stay in bed - at least until I’m done in the bathroom. That way I can prepare breakfast for us, set out his gifts that I bought him, and sometimes I have time to go cut flowers out of the hanging baskets on our porch and arrange them in a vase before he comes into the kitchen.

“Can I come in the kitchen now?” I hear him call down the hallway.

I take one last glance at the table where I’ve arrange his presents and vase of roses around our breakfast before turning to pour our coffee. “Yeah, c’mon!”

Koujaku doesn’t want anything too special for his birthday. He asked for no party but I refused to not buy something for him. He just wants Granny to come over tonight and have a nice dinner, and while I respect Koujaku’s wishes, this birthday is a milestone, and I can just treat it like any other birthday.

I listen for Koujaku’s light footsteps on the kitchen floor, smiling to myself at his breathy little, “ _awh_ ”.

“This looks wonderful, Aoba,” he says.

How I set the table isn’t anything new - I’ve been doing it every birthday since we’ve lived together and he does it for me. I set our coffee cups on the table before stepping up and hugging him.

“Happy birthday,” I say, kissing his cheek. Admittedly, I already thoroughly wished him a happy birthday this morning...

“Thank you,” he answers sweetly.

He opens his presents as we eat breakfast, and his genuine excitement for a bag of candy makes him seem 13 rather than 30. I also bought him a bottle of his favorite sake (which is a birthday tradition, I suppose), a few clothing items, a pretty handkerchief with a sparrow on it that caught my eye while I was leaving the store, some special brand of herbal tea, and a bottle of cologne that smelled really nice. He might think I went a little overboard, but I think they’re pretty standard gifts for a 30 year old man.

After breakfast, Koujaku happily put on the new, soft, gray button-up shirt I bought him after spraying it with his new cologne. Because it is Wednesday, he needs to go to work, but since he sets his own hours, he agreed to only work a half day. It's 10 o'clock (which is pretty late for him) by the time he leaves but he promises to only work a few hours.

I hold him for a long time before he left for work and kissed him even longer. I guess it’s just because this birthday is a milestone that I feel it’s exceptionally special. I know he doesn’t feel that way, and I probably won’t feel it for myself when I turn 30. I feel better about going against his wishes when I remind myself that he treated my 25th birthday like it was the last day on earth.

* * *

_It’s not a party_ , I remind myself. _It’s just a gathering_.

And it is. It's not too much of a celebration that Koujaku would be uncomfortable.

Granny came over around noon and began preparing the dinner that Koujaku had asked for but just a much larger portion. The only other people I invited were a few close friends of Koujaku’s: Kou, Hagima, and Mizuki. Clear conveniently showed up about an hour ago and I couldn’t ask him to leave. I’m not too sure how Koujaku feels about Clear but he’s my friend. I don’t know where Clear picked up his cooking skills but he helps out Granny with dinner while I prepare the house for guests. I made a small cake just for me and Koujaku and bought a cake for everyone else; I didn’t want to make a cake large enough for a party, so Koujaku and I can eat our cake later tonight. All he really wants for his birthday is a cake that I’ve made, so I make him one every year.

It’s now about 4 o’clock, and I hear the front door open and Koujaku’s loud laugh. I walk out of the kitchen to our living room and Koujaku is greeting everyone with a wide smile. Thankfully, he doesn’t look mad or even surprised that I invited other people.

“Surprise!?” I say jokingly stepping into Koujaku’s embrace.

Koujaku wraps me in his arms and leans down to whisper in my ear. “I thought we agreed no party?”

“Too bad,” I whisper back defiantly. “Today is special.”

I give him a quick kiss before pulling away and a chorus of “ _awh!_ ” follows me back into the kitchen.

“Honestly, you guys,” I say exasperatedly over my shoulder, “we’ve been married for two years. When are you going to stop?”

“When you stop being cute,” comes Mizuki’s jesting voice followed by laughter.

 

In the kitchen, Clear is helping Granny prepare to serve dinner, and I’m surprised that Granny actually works well with Clear. I think it’s because she can boss him around and he never complains.

When the dining room table is set, everyone files in, gives thanks for the food, and then nobody can seem to get over how good the meal is. After dinner, Granny, Mizuki, Kou, and Hagima give Koujaku their presents. Then, Clear pulls out a misshapen, brown package from one of his pockets and Koujaku looks sincerely touched. Mizuki had given Koujaku a bottle of really good wine that Koujaku sometimes orders at Black Needle but I had to choose not to drink any when guests (and especially Granny) were here. Maybe I’ll try some later tonight. Clear gave Koujaku a pretty, red rock that he had “found at the park”, and Kou and Hagima both bought some various cleaning supplies for Koujaku’s sword. Once Koujaku had admired his gifts, we all made him blow out 30 candles and, of course, Koujaku makes a joke about the fire alarm going off (which he made last year).

Overall, this is exactly what Koujaku wanted. He can pretend that he doesn’t want a party but I know a gathering of his closest friends on his birthday is very important to him. When it gets late, Clear volunteers to walk Granny home and she actually goes without complaint after giving Koujaku a hug. Mizuki also hugs Koujaku once Kou and Hagima said their goodbyes.

* * *

Koujaku and I sit on the couch together in front of the TV with plates of the cake I made and cups of the sake I gave him earlier today. He recounts his day to me: what his clients gave him for his birthday, what kind of hairstyles he gave today, and how many times he was congratulated for turning 30.

“Thank you for the party, Aoba,” he says softly, leaning his head against mine. “The cake is delicious.”

“You’re welcome, babe. I hoped you would like it,” I say about both the party and the cake. “Did you have a good day?”

He plants a kiss in my hair. “I had a wonderful day.”

“Good. I love you. Happy birthday.”

“It was a happy birthday, thank you. I love you too.”

 

I look forward to his birthday every year. I can’t wait for the day when I can spoil him without having to give any other explanation than, “it’s your birthday”. I know that he doesn’t want much - that he’s fine with the way things are but I want him to know just how special he is to me. I want his birthdays to be something he looks forward to every year too.

**Author's Note:**

> I did the math and some research that says Koujaku's 30th birthday would've been on a Monday, so that's why I chose that day.  
> I wanted to do something a little different than what I originally had planned, so I decided to go with Koujaku's 30th birthday and a small gathering for his party. In this story, I guess Koujaku and Aoba would've gotten married pretty quickly after Koujaku's Route. I'll post their engagement at the end of Koujaku Week! <3
> 
> Thank you for reading!  
>   
> Edit: I did the math right... but the research wrong; DMMd came out in 2012. I dunno why I was thinking 2010! So August 19th, 2015 was a Wednesday - not a Monday.


End file.
